By Greg Hazley
Michigan’s film industry has engaged Lansing PR firm Truscott Rossman to help fend off significant cuts proposed to the state’s three-year-old film tax incentive program, which the industry says has brought hundreds of millions in revenue to the Great Lakes State.
Gov. Rick Snyder, pointing to a $1.4B state budget deficit, has ordered a $25M cap on the program, a cut which would represent a fraction of the millions refunded under the program each year.
Film producers and other creative ventures like video games and Internet software can get a 40 percent refund for expenditures in the state under the program. From July through Dec. 2010, 26 projects were approved requesting credits of $65.7M on an investment in the state of $168.6M. Films shot or produced in the state last year included “Gulliver’s Travels,” “Hostel: Part III” and HBO’s “Hung.”
Sharon Emery, VP at Truscott Rossman, confirmed the agency is handling PR for Michigan Film First, an industry-backed effort formed in November that is stepping up its campaign to save to tax credit program. She said the agency is coordinating with MFF’s lobbying team to build support for the program and fend off the proposed cuts.
The Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau and CVBs in Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor and Travers City recently commissioned a report by Ernst & Young that, the groups said, shows the incentive program is benefitting the state’s economy – about $6 for every $1 spent on the incentive.
The governor’s proposed cut to the program must be approved by the state legislature.
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